Blog 2: Character Analysis

Pick one character from your reading/ class activity, and describe what the character wants in Larry Watson's Montana 1948. What prevents that character from achieving what he/she wants? How does this compare to what you want?

Len McAuley wants to be with Gail Hayden. There is no official proof of this fact, but David simply says, "Why not add another heartbreak to the situation?" (Watson ##). Len cannot be with Gail, though. He may or may not lover her. Regardless, he is married to Daisy. Gail is married to Wesley. Laws of marriage do not permit one to leave their spouse for somebody else's spouse.

In order to compare this dilemma to what I want, I first need to decide what it is I truly want. What do I want? The one thing I really want more than anything else in the world relates in some ways to Len's issue. However, it is not a matter of having to hide my feelings for an impossible love. What I want, though is not easily going to just happen magically. I have to take it into my own hands and make it happen if I feel that strongly about it. Doing so may cause heartbreak (like Len's love for Gail), but it will not be breaking written laws like marriage.